Good weather for it! You've got a breeze today and clear blue skies.
Yea about Sobe!!
Friday Five:
1) We got back late yesterday. Spent the first part of yesterday hiking in the woods. It was lovely, and much cooler under the trees. Had a late lunch at the little inn at Cairndow, then back to Glasgow. (Nice meal at the inn, btw.) Had spent the night at Brambles in Inveraray - can highly recommend both the hotel and the restaurant of that name. Exceptionally good breakfast came with the room, as well. (photo of the loch attached) The only downsides to the trip were that it was absolutely still most of the two days we were there, only the barest hint of a breeze at the top of the hills, and it got a bit warm in the sun. Also that the CityLink bus was 40 minutes late picking us up at Cairndow to come home - no real shade at the bus stop - and when we phoned them they were going to check to see where the bus was and phone us back. They never called back.
Anyway, we used the Boots DEET bug spray around our ankles, no crawlies. Thankfully, there were not a lot of midges. Daughter got one bite, and understands the "itch" factor thing now. We saw them landing on me, but they just kind of would walk around and then leave again. I guess I'm not tasty to midges? (Lucky Me!)
2) Got back home to find out I'd left the tea kettle on the burner, and the burner switched on. Thankfully no damage to the house, or the hob. And, probably, really not the kettle, other than superficial paint damage. But it's time to get one that turns itself off. My days are so much like each other that mentally I'm slowing down and my memory isn't what it ought to be. So, time to adjust. Too bad, really. I really liked that kettle - bright red with a cheerful whistle. That I obviously no longer hear very well.
3) The Daughter got turned down for the latest funded PhD slot she wanted. It went to someone who had work experience. Which she cannot get here, as she cannot work professionally until 2022. Says she sees the writing on the wall now, and that it's time she really pursues her doctorate elsewhere. Her master's here was so watered down that it won't count as a master's in the States, so she'll probably have to start a master's program there and then transition into a PhD program. The plan is that I'll stay here and she'll travel to wherever it is. If it looks like she'll get through the degree and likes the place, and it's suitable, I will follow on at some point later on, if I like it there. If I don't like it, I'll be staying here. She won't be starting anything until fall 2020 at the earliest, and that assumes they give her a good aid package. If so, I will drop her off at the airport and head to the Job Center, and take anything I can get for a year while she's away. After a year I will cease employment and apply for full settled status (doable, when you retire), which she will then get as well. That will give her up to five years to finish her education abroad and still be able to come home (here) again to live and work, if she chooses. If she doesn't get accepted to a program for 2020, I'll do the same anyway - Job Center and any job they can send me to. Then she can work starting the following year. Assuming Brexit hasn't made things so miserable that we'd be better off back in the USA.
4) I have more jalepeno and other hot peppers ripening than I know what to do with. Will need to investigate how to preserve them, other than drying, as I don't really have any place to add more strings of drying peppers! I hadn't expected peppers to do so well here! Must be the fish-tank water....
5) Found a home for six of the baby cory fish. Need to find a home for four more babies. Also need to buy a small algae-eater, as the algae is threatening to overtake the big tank. But at least all the corys are happy and doing well. Rambo has gotten big enough that he's readily visible and comes to the front of the tank when he sees us (to be fed).
And Big Bertha and the Boys seem to not feel the need to continue to spawn. (Thank Gawd.)
